Truly Strong
by animefan15973
Summary: A Cirno-centric fanfic released on 9/9/09? WHAT a SHOCKER! The fairies of Gensokyo are dying out and that causes a whole bunch of problems. One fairy strangely not affected goes out to resolve it and bring up her and her friends standing in Gensokyo.
1. Embodiment of Story Beginning

Hello everybody, animefan15973 here with a new fanfiction dedicated to the STRONGEST on the STRONGEST day! Now, don't get me wrong, it still feels a bit...off, i guess would be the best way to describe it? Yeah, I think it fits. I actually feel a lot of mistakes and others coming from this fic on many chapters, but I'll let you guys be the judge on that. Read, review, and celebrate, for today is the STRONGEST day!

Author is now writing.

Authors do their best to prepare a fic that is nice to read. Please Read and Review warmly while drinking Tea.

This is a fic that is Cirno-centric. That means it is not real and Cirno is the star.

Disclaimer: I'm just going to put it on this one chapter 'cause you need to read this to read the rest. I do not own the Touhou Project. The characters, locations, and everything else like that all belong to ZUN. Please support the official release.

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???: GWWWWAAAAAA!!!!

BOOM!!! Was the sound that was most clearly heard as a small blue fairy hit the ground, leaving a crater 4 times her size. As the dust started to clear, a miko had landed completely unscathed.

Miko: Geez. Can you not attack me when I come by for at least one day?

Fairy: Shut up!!! Besides, if you would stop fighting unfairly so eye can win, then eye wouldn't challenge you every day!!!

Miko: Uh, I don't think fights work like that…

Fairy: SHUT UP!!! Do you not know who eye am?!?! Eye am Cirno!!!

The fairy took a stance as if she were boasting.

Cirno: Eye am the STRONGEST!!! Ice Sign: "Icicle Fall"!!!

The danmaku flew. It seemed like two giant wings made of ice flew outward from the little fairy, flying towards her sides. When they reached the sides of the magical box that seemed to surround every danmaku battle, the ice shards suddenly turned and moved downward towards the miko. The miko just moved forward, right in front of Cirno, while saying nothing. After 10 seconds of the miko not getting hit, the tiny fairy got angry.

Cirno: DAMMIT, MOVE SOMEWHERE OTHER THAN IN FRONT OF ME!!! CHEATER!!! REIMU'S A CHEATER!!!

The miko named Reimu did nothing other than lift her gohei up, pointed to the fairy's heart. A bullet later and the fairy fell to the ground yet again.

Reimu: Now, what was I doing again? Ah yes. I had to return something.

As she said that, she started walking away and towards a tied up Remilia, who was trying to sneak away by crawling like a caterpillar. As the two, one free one captive, flew away, the tiny fairy of ice's body was twitching.

A few minutes later…

**At a forest near the Misty Lake…**

Cirno: Stupid miko, with her stupid "divine power" and her stupid teleporting and stupid shrine stick thing, it's just stupid, that's what…Eye bet she just invented those spell card rules so that she could never lose…Yeah, that's it. She makes her cards all impossible to clear and tells everyone else to not use their full power…If eye could use my full power, everyone would see eye'm the strongest. After all, eye am…

Firefly Youkai: Yeah, I'm sure that's it…

Cirno: That is it Wriggle!!! And it is because of it that we are considered weak by nearly everyone in Gensokyo!!! Eye swear, if we were given the opportunity to use our true power, we could easily mop the floor with everyone!!! But no, everyone ignores that rule and fights unfairly!!! Haven't you ever thought Reimu was fighting unfairly?

Nightsparrow Youkai: Neither of us has actually. Not even Daiyousei here has. Really, it was only you Cirno.

Daiyousei, a big fairy, in an attempt to stop the argument there said…

Daiyousei: W-well, actually-

Cirno: Then you guys are all idiots!!! Eye'm going to go find someone else who knows how eye'm feeling!!!

Cirno dashed off into some random part of the forest.

Daiyousei: C-cirno-

Wriggle: Let her go…

Daiyousei: But-

Wriggle: It's best to let her just blow it off on her own.

Daiyousei: …

Wriggle: I wanna keep an eye on her too, but sometimes, you have to-

Sphere of darkness: Hey guys! What'd I miss?

Everyone slowly turned towards the voice to face the newcomer, beads of sweat forming on their heads.

Nightsparrow Youkai: Well, I'll tell you what you didn't Rumia. You ruined the mood.

Rumia: Ruined the- OH GODS!!! I never pegged any of you other than Wriggle to be- Ah, disgusting…

Wriggle: What the hell kinds of things are running through your mind?!?!?!

**At the Scarlet Devil Mansion…**

A miko and a maid carrying a loli vampire were walking down a hallway. The last of the trio sleeping peacefully in the maids arms.

Head Maid: Thank you Reimu. It must have been troublesome carrying her here then helping me stop her tantrum.

Reimu: No problem really Sakuya. Rather, how did she get to my shrine anyway? Usually you and the other maids would have noticed her leave. Where are those fairy maids anyway?

Sakuya: That's a good question…I'll go check their quarters. They are probably just lazing around there. But first we must bring lady Remilia back to her room.

Reimu: I'll come along too.

**A random place in the forest near the Misty Lake…**

Cirno flew through the forest not caring where she was flying. She just flew to avoid trees and get as far away from her friends as possible. Tears freely flowed down her face and created an incredibly beautiful, but incredibly sad scene. The tears slowly slid down the child-like face and at the moment they left her skin, they became small, transparent ice shards.

Cirno: (How could they? How do they not understand how frustrated eye am with that stupid miko? Didn't they get beat by her too for no reason? Here eye am trying to raise the status of us fairies and youkai who are constantly picked on and they practically abandon me and the ideals of the team we all formed!!!)

The fairy slowed to a halt. The tears never ceased falling and freezing as she just stood there, crying.

Cirno: (They have abandoned me…After all we been through together…But why? Why did they leave? Is it our lack of success? It couldn't be…Maybe…Maybe they too believe we can't do it…Maybe…Maybe we can't…)

Cirno's face turned from sadness, to self-doubt and inner pain, but then just as quickly to determination.

Cirno: (No…We can do it…We will do it. And eye'll prove it!!! Even if eye have to do it myself!!!)

The tiny ice fairy stood up, the face of determination still on her face. As she got ready to turn around to find her friends and chastise them for doubting their chances of success, she heard voices behind her.

Voice 1: Is someone there?

Voice 2: Please help our friend!

Out of the bushes came out three fairies, one in blue, one in white, and one in red who looked as if she could throw up at any given time. It seemed she did too as the two other fairies were coated in what seemed like it could have been lunch.

Cirno: Hmm? Oh, it's only you three. Why does, um, Sunny right? Why does she seem like she puked all over herself? And you two…

White fairy: We don't know! One second she was fine, the next she was spewing chunks all over us and had a high fever!

**Scarlet Devil Mansion…**

Sakuya: What happened in here?!?!

The head maid of the mansion entered the fairy maids' quarters full of sick, puking fairies. The very few that weren't sick had doctor's masks on and were doing their best to keep healthy. It was a scene that seemed to inspire pictures seen in a book about epidemics. A tiny few of the sick fairies looked to even be on the verge of death.

Reimu: You! Healthy fairies! What happened?!?!

Nameless Healthy Fairy: We don't know! All of a sudden, one fairy got sick and the next minute, this!!!

Sakuya: We need a doctor. Healthy fairies come with me. We're putting these fairies in quarantine. Reimu?

Reimu: On it.

A magic barrier was put between the room of sick fairies and the rest of the mansion.

**Forest near Misty Lake…**

Cirno: This doesn't look good! We need to get her to a doctor now!

White Fairy: But where can we find one?!?!

Blue Fairy: I heard that there is one in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost!

Cirno: Then let's hurry! Maybe that doctor can help, whatever it is that's hurting Sunny!

**Scarlet Devil Mansion…**

Sakuya: Reimu, are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Reimu: Yeah. It looks like…

Cue super dramatic close-up of Reimu's face

Reimu: An incident!

**Forest near Misty Lake…**

A lone person walked through the forest. Despite having their figure obscured by a very sinister-looking traveler's cloak, the figure was clearly female. Her lips were thin and the skin around it looked as if it has never seen the sun. Other than that, the woman's features remain shrouded in mystery. She came to a halt in the middle of the path she was on and bent down. As she came back up, she was holding a small, beautiful ice shard. The lips curled upwards in the form of a dark, foreboding smile as she resumed her travel down her path, and towards the Bamboo Forest of the Lost…


	2. Perfect Disease Blossom

The Three Mischievous Fairies: BLEAUGH!!!!!!

Cirno: Ewww…Maybe it wasn't the best of ideas to carry sick people to a doctor in the Bamboo Forest without a guide…

Cirno continued her march through the Bamboo Forest carrying the Three Mischievous Fairies, Sunnymilk, Luna Child, and Star Sapphire, on her back. However, one thing they didn't realize was that there was a possibility of them getting lost, in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. She kept on moving anyway, thinking that eventually they will find the doctor's house, or at least someone to point them in the right direction. It continued on like this for 10 more minutes before finally collapsing onto the ground in the middle of a clearing, exhausted. They were all on the ground for 5 more minutes before someone finally spotted them.

???: Hmm? What the?! Oh dear…I think I should bring them to master but, then who will catch Tewi? The rabbits won't listen to me without her and that makes chores difficult…

At that point, a new face entered the clearing. A face that only had a mouth visible.

??? 2: Hello there.

??? 1: Who are-

??? 2: That is unimportant. Rather, you should go and bring these four to your master so she can have a look at them. I will find your "Tewi."

Reisen isn't an idiot. Such a mysterious individual appearing out of nowhere and making orders like those, even ones that could potentially help people, isn't what one can call a normal occurrence. There was something ominous about this woman. The lunar rabbit didn't need to see the woman's cloak or even the mysterious appearance to take place to see that. But what else could she do in this situation but take her word for it? Reisen quickly nodded and left with the four fairies in tow towards her and her master's residence at Eientei, the House of Eternity. As she left, the stranger smiled ominously.

Mysterious Stranger: Don't go dying on me yet, little one. At least, not until the fun begins…

She threw her head back and started to laugh. Then she walked away…

**At the Scarlet Devil Mansion…**

Nameless Healthy Fairy: We were just doing our daily routine. We went to work around the mansion, but at around 2:00, some fairies started getting sick. We never thought we could get sick so easily so we didn't pay it much mind. But then everyone started getting sick and we had no idea what to do. We all just went into our room and closed the door so we can't infect anyone else in the mansion. That's all we did Lady Patchouli.

Sakuya: And has it occurred to you all that staying in a closed room with other sick fairies would get you sick too?

NHF: Not at all. But when we did realize it, we decided not to spread the disease to anyone else in the mansion. So we closed the door to our room and decided to not come out until everyone was cured.

Patchouli: Hmm…This disease…It is nothing like I ever seen…However, I did find out a bit about the infectibility of the disease. It seems only fairies are susceptible.

NHF: OH NO!!!

Reimu: Well, that doesn't seem so bad. I mean, there are quite a bit of them in Gensokyo. It might be nice to have a bit less.

NHF: THAT'S A HORRIBLE THING TO SAY!!!

Reimu: Well, it's not like you can die out any other way. And you can't deny that there are a whole lot of you around…

NHF: It still is pretty mean to say…

Sakuya: They are right Reimu. If you feel that way, by all means, feel that way. But don't say such in front of the victims.

Reimu: Sorry. It's just that fairies annoy me. Anyway, how can we stop this incident? We never had to deal with a biological threat…

Patchouli: It isn't completely biological. If it was, it wouldn't target only fairies. Someone is making this disease and using it to wipe out fairies.

The healthy, but nameless, fairy mumbled:

NHF: It's probably that fairy-hating miko…

It didn't escape the ears of said miko.

Reimu: What did you say?!?!

Patchouli: Easy, Reimu.

Sakuya: We're getting off topic. How do we stop this incident?

Reimu: Why don't we just hunt for the cause like always?

Patchouli: Because then, you will just be causing trouble for anyone who gets in your way. This situation is better handled by just quarantining the sick fairies and keeping the healthy ones isolated from them while looking for a vaccine.

Reimu: Sounds like a job for geniuses like you and Eirin. I'll go notify her and kidnap any fairies along the way to keep them safe.

The Nameless Healthy Fairy freaked when she heard Reimu proclaim her intentions of kidnapping fairies.

Sakuya: You don't have to kidnap them. Just tell them what's happening and tell them to come to the mansion's garden. If they don't believe you then scare them a little to coming here. I'll take them to an isolated place.

NHF: You don't have to scare them…I could come with you and tell them myself. They'll probably believe other fairies…

Patchouli: No can do. We want as many healthy fairies as possible to head to isolation.

Reimu: Aww…Well, I'm off.

Patchouli: By the way, take this with you.

She held up a certain black-white ordinary witch, who was tied in a very similar fashion to how Remilia was an hour ago.

Reimu: But she isn't a miko so she doesn't have the clearance to help with incidents. Ah, why not? She'll just go along and try to solve it, even if I say no. Come on Marisa.

She dragged the still tied up Marisa along the floor, while she screamed what was probably a whole bunch of obscenities. They exited the library of the Scarlet Devil Mansion then the mansion itself and set off on their quest to prevent this incident from becoming worse than it already is.

**At Eientei…**

It looked as if Cirno would be fine. However, the same cannot be said of her friends, but not her youkai friends. Only her fairy friends. It seems that one by one they started disappearing in a bright light and Cirno could do nothing other than watch. She tried moving but it felt as if her legs were tied down. She tried to call out but no words could escape her lips. Soon, there was only she and one other. It was the big and shy one, Daiyousei. She was Cirno's first friend and was always there to back her up on even her most convoluted schemes and ideas. As if not seeing Cirno, she slowly flew over to a side of a cliff, and then floated off towards the sky, the same bright light that took the others beginning to take her as well. Finally, Cirno started to move and speak.

Cirno: Daiyousei!!!

She never even turned around as she started to disappear like all the others. Cirno made a last ditch effort to catch her and jumped from the cliff to the disappearing Daiyousei, and she screamed as she fell, falling to the dark abyss below…

Cirno woke up screaming from her nightmare. She was suddenly sitting upright, but her eyes were closed tight as she screamed, and screamed, and screamed.

???: Ms. Fairy!!! Calm down!!! It was all a dream!!!

The person held Cirno close to them in an attempt to calm her down. It slowly started to work as Cirno slowly stopped screaming, but also slowly started crying. She sat there, crying into the shoulder of whoever this person was. She wore what looked like nurse's garbs, with blue and red colors alternating from one side and another, like a checkerboard. She even had a nurse's hat.

???: It's ok. It's all going to be okay Ms. Fairy. It was all just a dream. Are you all done crying?

She spoke like a mother would to a child after a horrible nightmare. It further soothed the crying fairy and she slowly started to nod as the tears slowly stopped, again frozen into little beautiful ice shards, on the bed which they sat on.

Cirno: *sniff* Where am eye?

???: You're at the House of Eternity, Eientei, located in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. My name is Eirin. I'm taking care of you and your friends.

Cirno: So you're the doctor of the Bamboo Forest?

Eirin: Well, the pharmacist. Reisen found you and your friends outside in the forest. I already took a look at them. They have a disease I have never seen before.

Cirno: Are they going to be okay?

???: Most probably not.

The crazy miko and thieving witch, Reimu and Marisa, just walked through the door.

Cirno: You two?!?! Get out!!! You two have no idea what you're talking about!!!

Eirin: What do I owe this pleasant visitation to?

Reimu: The current disease that's going around.

Eirin: Do you have information regarding it?

Marisa: Yep. It seems it only affects fairies and could kill them pretty easily too –ze.

Cirno: WHAT?!?!?! ARE YOU TELLING ME MY FRIENDS ARE ABOUT TO DIE?!?!?!

Eirin: Hmm…This is bad…

Reimu: No, not really…They are just fairies.

Eirin: You've lived here your whole life and you don't know?

Reimu / Marisa: Hm?

Eirin: What exactly is a fairy? They may be weak, little creatures, but they are also beings born of nature.

Cirno twitched at the weak and little comment.

Reimu: This is important why?

Eirin: Fairies are born of nature. Not only that, they protect it as well.

Marisa: So, if they die…

Eirin: Nature dies. And if nature dies, so does everything else.

Reimu: Oh, wow. That IS important. Don't worry, we already started isolating the healthy fairies. You just concentrate on making a vaccine for the healthy ones.

Marisa: Speaking about that, where's that annoying ice one that was here a few minutes ago?

But Marisa was a little bit late in recognizing the absence of little ice fairy. She was already up and flying, back towards her center of friends, to see if her very first had caught this nightmare disease, or not…


	3. Imperishable Hope

**In the forest near the Misty Lake…**

Cirno: You guys will never believe what eye just found out!!!

Nightsparrow Youkai: Is it that fairies are dying out to some weird disease?

Cirno: No! Well, yes, but no! Wait, how do you know about that already Mystia?

The nightsparrow stuck her thumb out behind her where, next to a tree, a few fairies sat there, hacking, coughing, and throwing up.

Cirno: Oh. Hey, wait a minute…Where's Daiyousei?!?!

Wriggle: It's okay Cirno. She went home after seeing the outbreak. She's okay.

Cirno, forgetting to tell the rest of her friends the rest of the news, flew off towards Daiyousei's house. It was a big tree on the eastern edge of the Misty Lake. The others followed shortly behind. Cirno started banging on the door to her first friend's house.

Cirno: Daiyousei!!!

The banging didn't last long as soon the big fairy opened the door for her friend.

Cirno: Ah. Thank the Great Fairy you're okay. I was so worried.

Wriggle: We told you not to be.

Cirno: Oh yeah!

Cirno finally remembered that she still needed to tell her friends the situation regarding the fairies in this incident.

Cirno: Guys, you all have seen that the fairies are dying out in this outbreak.

Daiyousei: W-wait, dying?

Wriggle: Yeah, I thought you fairies can heal even if cut into pieces. You know, like it says in that book by the ninth child of Miare? What was her name again?

Cirno: That doesn't matter!!! The point is, we fairies are also the protectors of nature!!! If we die, then so does nature!!! If nature dies, the world as we know it would end!!!

Rumia: That does sound pretty serious. So what, is anyone working on a cure?

Cirno: The miko is already isolating fairies. I don't think it's enough though. I know it's a gut feeling, but I think that someone is behind this incident. I think that if we want to stop this before it gets too far, we have to stop that person.

Wriggle: Have you forgotten the fact you're a fairy to Cirno? Even if you're gut was right and someone was causing this disease, if you went after whoever it is, you will get sick too. And die. Maybe we should just settle down somewhere until this all blows over.

Cirno: As much as I hate to admit it, you are probably right. If I try to do anything, I'll probably die. Eye really hate feeling so helpless…

Daiyousei: C-Cirno?!?!

???: It's a good thing that it seems you finally learned your place.

In comes the miko and witch duo.

Reimu: Well, since you agree with us, we should bring you and the big one to the SDM. Sakuya probably has the Isolation Chamber ready now.

Cirno did nothing other than look at the floor, a sad look on her face. She looked to her friends one last time before being led away with Daiyousei following shortly.

**The Isolation Chamber in the garden of the SDM…**

Sakuya: This is going to be your new home for the rest of this incident. I'm sorry if it might feel a bit cramped.

The room that the two fairies were led to was indeed cramped. It was a good thing they didn't bring anything with them. With all the other fairies, nothing else could fit.

Cirno: Eye guess we'll just make do. But, eye'm kinda hungry. When's the food coming?

Sakuya: I'm sorry. But we are currently understaffed at the mansion as of recently. Because of that, we can barely make enough food to feed the normal inhabitants of the mansion, much less all of you fairies.

Cirno: So you're going to let us starve?!?!

Sakuya: It doesn't matter. You fairies don't require any food. I read it in that book from the child of Miare.

Cirno: We still like to eat though…

Sakuya: I truly am sorry. But it is how things go, with a majority of our workforce sick and the rest isolated from everyone else. Now, if you'll excuse me…

With that, the perfect and elegant maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion left the Isolation Chamber. The door to the room screeched to a close and the following silence was so quiet that it hurt listening to it. Cirno looked around at her surroundings. The room they were all left in was dark. There were no windows to let in light or anything. The air was humid, the ground was damp, the walls felt like they were closing in, and the inhabitants of the chamber all had one look on their face. Fear. Fear that the miko might have mistaken a sick fairy for a healthy one. Fear, that someone in this chamber will be responsible for their death.

Cirno: So, eh-he-he…Eye guess when enough fairies come, we'll have to fly to fit, huh…

The tiny ice fairy tried to break the silence using this observation. No one responded to the newcomer. They just momentarily looked at her, then away. Then they just stood there, looking up to the ceiling, as if it was the first time they saw it, then they all looked back towards the ground, saddened even further. With the failed first attempt to break the unbearable silence, she turned her attention to a couple of nearby fairies, attempting to at least start a conversation, even on a small scale.

Cirno: So, you guys seen the last soccer match? Eye still believe slicing up the moon to hit the ball should be considered illegal, ya know?

The fairies looked at Cirno, again for just a second, before again returning to their previous state of sadness. With another failed attempt at breaking the silence, Cirno turned again to Daiyousei, who surprisingly, looked a little bitter. Cirno failed to realize that and attempted to strike up at least a little conversation.

Cirno: Heh, can you believe these guys Daiyousei? They act as if all hope is lost. We're still alive so we still have a chance, right?

Daiyousei just turned around, refusing to look her old friend in the eye. That wasn't missed by Cirno.

Cirno: Hey, what's wrong? Heh, don't tell me you gave up hope too…Heh, don't worry, we'll all be safe in here until the vac-sine thing is released. No problem.

Daiyousei: …Hypocrite…

Cirno: Huh? What was that? I didn't hear you…

Daiyousei: I SAID YOU'RE A HYPOCRITE!!!

Cirno was wide eyed. Daiyousei NEVER screams. Furthermore, she NEVER says bad things about people.

Cirno: (What? What has gotten into her?) Huh? What makes you say that Daiyousei?

She tried to put her arm around her friend, but Daiyousei slapped it away.

Daiyousei: STAY AWAY FROM ME FAKER!!! No…You're not Cirno!!! Cirno would never just give up like that!!! STAY AWAY!!!

Cirno: W-what are you talking about?!?! Eye didn't give up on anything!!!

Daiyousei: Yeah you did!!! The Cirno I know wouldn't just accept that she can't do anything!!! She would try to solve this incident!!!

Cirno: That's 'cause if we try anything, we're dead!!!

Daiyousei: The real Cirno wouldn't give a rat's ass about that!!! She would charge right in and prove to the world that she was strong!!!

Cirno: Are you telling me that eye should go get myself killed?!?! Eye maybe strong, but eye'm not immune to sickness!!!

Daiyousei: But you would at least try to do something!!! But you immediately resigned yourself to your fate of being locked up with a billion other fairies!!!

Daiyousei dropped to the floor on her knees.

Daiyousei: The Cirno I know would at least try to resist at least that…

Cirno: But eye can't do anything.

Daiyousei: Cirno would never say that…I can't believe that you, would so easily…

Cirno: So easily what?!?!

Daiyousei: I can't believe you would so easily abandon us to our fate and the ideals of the team you formed…

Cirno suddenly had a flashback.

**Flashback to a few hours ago…**

Cirno: (Here eye am trying to raise the status of us fairies and youkai who are constantly picked on and they practically abandon me and the ideals of the team we all formed!!!)

**End flashback…**

Cirno was shocked. She looked at Daiyousei, kneeling and crying there on the floor. And she slowly started to cry as well.

Cirno: (S-she's right…how could eye? Eye really did just abandon my, our, ideals. What have eye been saying all this time? That eye'll prove that we are strong? How can eye do that in here? …Eye can't, that's how…) Daiyousei…*sniff* you, you're right…H-how could eye?!?! Eye, eye thought it was you guys who forgot the ideals of team 9, but it was really me…It was me…

Cirno's face went from sadness, to revelation, back to sadness, then after a few seconds, she looked back up with a new face. It was one of determination.

Cirno: But not anymore…

She extended her arm to her long-time friend.

Cirno: Daiyousei, thank you.

The two fairies looked at each other, and smiled. Daiyousei took her arm and pulled herself up.

Daiyousei: *Sniff* N-no problem…Are you back to yourself now?

Cirno: Yeah. And I got an idea of how I can get back out there…Listen up…

**At Eientei…**

???: Ah!!!

*Crash*

???: O-ow…

A mysterious woman walked up to the now sitting and aching body of Kaguya Houraisan. This mystery person was wearing a cloak and had a creepy, thin lips, the only visible part of her body. A short while ago, she came to the House of Eternity holding up a rabbit youkai that went by the name of Tewi. However, after setting her down in front of the residents of Eientei, she immediately attacked everyone in the room. After a minute of fighting, it seems as if the residents of Eientei would lose. Reisen was unconscious, the first during the attack to fall, Eirin went with Reimu and Marisa to work on a vaccine with Patchouli, and Tewi was unconscious and tied up before the fight even started. The only ones still standing were Kaguya and the mysterious woman. The woman held her open hand against the moon princess' exhausted body.

Kaguya: *Huff, Huff* H-hel-help me Eirin!!!

A flash, and the danmaku fight is over. The mysterious person walked over to a bed in one of the rooms. She bent down and picked up a small, beautiful shard of ice, and smiled…


	4. Phantasmagoria of Culprit View

Cirno: HELP!!! DAIYOUSEI IS SICK!!! WE GOT A SICK FAIRY IN HERE!!! HELP!!! GET US OUT!!!

The little ice fairy banged on the door to the Isolation Chamber. Daiyousei was on the floor, surrounded by a pool of partially digested food and was coughing crazily. All the other fairies saw this and banged on the walls, trying to attract the attention of anyone on the outside before they could get sick. Their efforts didn't go to waste as Sakuya opened the door as soon as she noticed.

Sakuya: What happened?!?!

Cirno: Freeze Sign "Perfect Freeze"!!!

Sakuya: Wh-

As the spell card activated, the two fairies zoomed out of the chamber, leaving a frozen in place Sakuya. They zoomed through the sky and away from the SDM.

Cirno: *Huff, Huff* W-we made it. Daiyousei, you alright?

Daiyousei: *Huff, Huff* Y-yeah…T-that plan was genius Cirno!

Cirno: Heh, well you know me. Not just strong, but smart too.

Daiyousei: Well, now that we're out, what now?

Cirno: …

Daiyousei: Um, Cirno?

Cirno: Just give me a sec. Eye'll think of something.

A bead of sweat formed on Daiyousei's head as Cirno closed her eyes and sat on the ground and started thinking.

A good amount of time later…

Cirno: Hmm…

Nothing changed.

Yet another good amount of time later…

Cirno: Hmm…EYE GOT IT!!! EYE'M A GENIUS!!!

Daiyousei: Who-za-what?!?! Huh?

Daiyousei woke up from her nap to find Cirno standing with a finger to her forehead and a smirk on her face, as if she were bragging that she was a genius. Wait, she was bragging that she was a genius.

Cirno: We'll just fly around and beat up people until we get a lead on who is causing the incident! Come on!

Daiyousei: Ah-Cirno wait!

A good amount of beaten up unsuspecting innocent humans later…

Daiyousei: Um…I don't think this is working…

Cirno: Nonsense. It is definitely working! Eye bet the next person we run into has the info we're looking for!

A good amount of the above sentence being repeated after beating someone up later…

Cirno: Hmm…Maybe it isn't working…

Daiyousei slowly walked up to where Cirno was. She looks like she just ran a marathon.

Daiyousei: *Huff, Huff* Y-yeah, I don't think it's working either…

Cirno: Give me a sec, eye'll think of something.

???: Ah. I finally found you.

Out of the trees appeared the miko.

Reimu: Ah. You two have no idea how scared we are, a sick fairy wandering around freely.

Cirno: What are you talking about?

Reimu: Your friend there is sick. Didn't she show the symptoms before you two busted out?

Cirno: Oh that.

Daiyousei: I was faking.

Reimu: You're kidding!!! Well, it doesn't matter. You two still need to come with me. Can't have the guardians of nature wandering around freely.

Cirno: That sounded incredibly authoritarian.

Reimu: I have the authority. I'm a shrine maiden!

Cirno: So why don't you find some youkai to exterminate or something?

Reimu: Fairies work just as fine. Especially cold ones.

Daiyousei: I thought you and the others are trying to save fairies!!!

Reimu: Yeah, but the sick ones won't live anyway.

Cirno: We're not sick!!!

Reimu: Look, your fever is already making you talk crazy. Time for some exterminating!

Cirno / Daiyousei: YOUR CRAZY!!!

Reimu ignored their exclamation as she started shooting bullets at the two fairies. The two quickly split up, flying in opposite directions. More bullets flew through the air. Reimu shot straight for Cirno while her homing bullets flew for Daiyousei. In exchange, their bullets flew for Reimu, crossing each other at her last location. Before those bullets crossed, she flew up and backed away to get both in her line of vision. As helpful as her homing shots are, it still is nice to see all of your opponents and their danmaku. It was a good idea because the fairies' next wave was a freak out maneuver. Daiyousei shot straight for Reimu from her right, attempting to scare her to fly to her left, where Cirno had sent her shots. Reimu saw it coming and was ready. She flew in between the shots and shot back, this time sending more powerful shots their way. The fight went on in this manner and the three shot and dodged each other's bullets. After a few minutes, Daiyousei was hit. It seems she was still drained from following around her friend. She was sent crashing towards the ground. Cirno flew under her friend and caught her before the crash, an event that Reimu took advantage of. She activated a spell card.

Reimu: Border World "Hakurei Danmaku Bounded Field"!

The card activated and the two fairies found themselves trapped in an area between two what-seemed-like barriers. Reimu started shooting for the two with her red and white danmaku, which seemed to move inverse of the other on the other side of the barrier field. The fairies started to graze as if their lives depended on it, even though danmaku fights aren't lethal.

Reimu: Just give up. You guys are trapped and there's no way I'll let you go even if you break the spell.

Cirno: (Damn it, she's right. How could we break out of this? Even if we do break the card, she'll just use another one! We're already exhausted, we can't keep this up!)

The two fairies weaved through the spell's red and white walls of danmaku. The miko had them pinned, close calls happened within seconds of the last, the two fairies were getting more and more tired. Finally, Daiyousei spoke.

Daiyousei: Cirno…We can't keep this up forever…I-I have an idea…

Cirno: Eye'm all ears. Shoot.

Daiyousei: I'll get hit. It'll break the magic wall and clear the area of danmaku. You can escape.

Cirno: W-WHAT?!?! NO!!! NOT AN OPTION!!!

Daiyousei: There's no other way! You can do it Cirno! Save the fairies!

She pushed Cirno towards the edge of the magic barrier to outside the danmaku fight, before taking one straight to her heart.

Cirno: NO!!! THAT CRAZY SHRINE MAIDEN WILL EAT YOU ALIVE!!! DAIYOUSEI!!!

Daiyousei fell back to earth, a crater forming upon impact. The area cleared of danmaku and the magic barrier fell, as expected.

Daiyousei: C-Cirno…Get…Get out…Go…

Daiyousei lost consciousness after those words escaped her lips. The miko came down in front of Daiyousei, obstructing her from view. Cirno took one look and turned and flew. She flew away crying. She flew and never looked back.

Reimu: Darn…I let one get away…Ah well, if she wants to die then let her. Let's go big fairy.

**Elsewhere…**

Cirno had no idea where she was. All she knew was that she was away from the fight, and was sitting on the ground crying. You would too if your friend just sacrificed herself so you can get away from a lunatic shrine maiden. Her words ran through her mind as she sat there, crying.

Cirno: (Daiyousei: C-Cirno…Get…Get out…Go…) D-damn it… Why? Eye didn't ask her to. Why? N-now, she's going to be locked away back at the hell they call the only chance for healthy fairies…Was…Was eye deluding myself all this time? Was eye just lying to myself and my friends? Maybe everyone is right…Maybe eye really can't do anything…Eye am just another fairy after all, and fairies aren't strong…Eye'm not strong, just scared and alone…Now Daiyousei isn't even here for me…And it's all my fault…All mine…all mine…

???: Hey now, don't give up Cirno.

Cirno: Wha-? Who's there?!

??? 2: You need not fear us Cirno. After all, we are you.

Cirno: !

Cirno looked around the area, not seeing anything but trees, grass, and a small pond. On a whim, she slowly walked towards the pond and looked at her reflection in the water, but it wasn't just her reflection there. There were also two girls there. Two girls that looked just like the little ice fairy. The one on the reflection's left had the exact same features as Cirno, but also was sporting a pair of eyeglasses. Yet somehow, even with just that one addition to her features, it made the Cirno lookalike seem somehow older and more mature, as well as smarter. The one to the reflection's right also shared the same features, however instead of eyeglasses as her most defining characteristic, she carried six swords and wore strange black clothing on her left arm and hip, as well as strange black gloves. Her overall appearance could be described as strong. The real Cirno looked at the two with confusion.

Cirno: W-who are you?

Strong Cirno: Did you not just hear your smart side there? We're you.

Cirno: But, eye'm me.

Strong Cirno: Yeah, eye don't really get it either.

Smart Cirno: You two are idiots. What I meant by we are you is that we are different sides to your person. She is your strong side and I am your smart one.

Cirno: Y-you two are my strong and smart sides? T-then you gotta help me!!! Eye-eye'm not strong enough or smart enough to do this alone!!! Help me…

The Strong Cirno turned and punched the real Cirno's reflection, and Cirno felt it. She flew a bit from the side of the pond before landing near a tree.

Cirno: OW!!!

Strong Cirno: NEVER SAY THAT!!!

The smart Cirno slapped the strong Cirno across the face.

Smart Cirno: Are you stupid?!?! We're here to help her, not kill her!!!

Now, smart Cirno started pinching strong Cirno's cheek.

Strong Cirno: OW OW OW OW OW!!! STOP THAT!!! EYE'M SORRY!!!

Cirno walked back to the pond side and started watching the meaningless fight.

Strong Cirno: Please stop!!! Eye'm sorry!!!

Cirno: WOULD YOU TWO STOP IT?!?!

The two sides to Cirno immediately stopped fighting, blinked a few times, then regained their composure and stood next to Cirno's reflection again.

Strong Cirno: *Clears throat* W-well, anyway, why were we here again?

Smart Cirno: We are here to give encouragement to our real self.

Strong Cirno: Eye thought we are our real self.

Smart Cirno: …

Strong Cirno: Oh right, we aren't real. We just represent different sides to Cirno.

Smart Cirno: Holy crap, she understands. Anyway, Cirno, we are here to help you.

Cirno: Ooh, do you know some kind of super magic that allows you to be here and fight for me?

Strong Cirno: No.

Smart Cirno: We are here to tell you something.

Cirno: But eye need help fighting! Eye'm not strong enough to do it alone…

Strong Cirno: Cirno, what do you think strength is? A very important person to both of us once told us, strength is what you use to protect those around you.

Upon hearing those words, Cirno remembered who it was who first spoke those words to her. It was her older sister-like figure, Letty Whiterock.

**Flashback to many years ago…**

Letty: Cirno, what is your dream?

Cirno: Well, isn't it obvious? To be the STRONGEST person in Gensokyo!!!

Letty: *Chuckles* Well then, do you know what strength is Cirno?

Cirno: Isn't it to be able to beat up anyone?

Letty: No. Strength comes from you desire to protect all those around you, and to keep them safe. Especially your loved and close ones.

Cirno: Strength is to protect, huh. Hmm. Well if that's the case, eye want to change my dream! Eye still want to be the strongest, but now eye also want to help others thought of to be weak! If strength is determined by how much you want to protect others, then anyone could be strong! And eye'm going to help others reach their full strength! Starting with Daiyousei!

Letty: *Chuckles* Well, if you keep that kind of attitude, you're sure to become the strongest, Cirno.

**End flashback…**

Cirno: Strength is to protect…

She wiped a tear from her eye.

Cirno: How could eye have forgotten something so important? Eye guess eye really am an idiot…

She looked at the smart Cirno.

Cirno: Well? Isn't this the part where you tell me eye'm not an idiot and tell me what it means to be smart and stuff so eye realize eye really am smart inside?

Smart Cirno: Nope. You really are an idiot Cirno.

Cirno performed a perfect anime fall. Strong Cirno lifted up a piece of cardboard with a 10 written on it. Smart Cirno hit her again.

Smart Cirno: Let me finish. You aren't smart but you are right about one thing. I am here to tell you what it means to be smart. You see, scientists learn what they learn by using the scientific method. When they have a problem to solve, they get as much info that they can on it, construct a hypothesis, test the hypothesis, record their observations, and if the hypothesis is wrong, they make a new one and test that until they get it right. Basically they go through a process of trial and error. Life is like that too. If something fails, then try again until it's right. You still have time to stop this incident, so try again Cirno.

Cirno: What is a scientist?

Smart Cirno: Huh?

Cirno: Eye don't think we have any in Gensokyo…

Smart Cirno: …I GIVE UP!!!

Cirno: OW!!!

Smart Cirno was now trying to strangle the reflection of the real Cirno, which in turn affected the real Cirno. Strong Cirno was trying to break up the fight without hurting any of them. Words can't stop an angry smart person though, as she just continued to strangle her.

Strong Cirno: DAMN IT!!! CIRNO GET AWAY FROM THE WATER!!! IF YOUR REFLECTION ISN'T HERE SHE CAN'T KILL YOU!!!

Despite the pain in her throat, Cirno slowly, but surely, moved away from the water's edge and sure enough, the feeling of being strangled stopped.

Cirno: *Huff, Huff*

Smart Cirno: DAMN IT LET ME AT HER!!! LET ME AT HER!!!

Cirno could still hear the voices in her head, but they slowly started to fade. Soon, she couldn't hear the two girls anymore. Then, she spoke.

Cirno: Thanks, you two…

She knew they weren't there anymore, but if they were her, they would hear her words of thanks. She was about to head off again, but then realized something incredibly important…

Cirno: Wait, EYE STILL HAVE NO IDEA HOW EYE'M SUPPOSED TO STOP THIS INCIDENT!!!


	5. Mountain of Fear

Last time on Truly Strong, a Touhou fanfic…

Cirno and Daiyousei broke out of the hellish Isolation Chamber for healthy fairies, only to realize they have no idea of how to resolve the incident and save the fairies. They wandered around until they were found by Reimu, only to find out they are no match for the crazy miko. To keep her friend safe, Daiyousei sacrificed herself and Cirno made her escape, only to realize she still has no idea what to do and, even worse, now has to do it alone. She met two of herself and- aw you know what? Screw it. You people should just reread the last chapter or something damn it. Moving on…

Cirno: Thanks, you two…

She knew they weren't there anymore, but if they were her, they would hear her words of thanks. She was about to head off again, but then realized something incredibly important…

Cirno: Wait, EYE STILL HAVE NO IDEA HOW EYE'M SUPPOSED TO STOP THIS INCIDENT!!!

???: DAMN IT DO I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING?!?!?!

A mysterious voice boomed as a bright flash appeared in front of Cirno. When the light cleared there stood a woman in a black cloak and thin lips. Everything about her screamed mystery.

Black-cloaked stranger: What the- How did I get here?!?!

Mysterious Booming Voice: Cirno, this is the person responsible for the sickness!!!

The stranger disappeared in another flash of white.

Mysterious Booming Voice: Go find her and kick her ass!!! Here's her picture in case you need more help identifying her.

Now the booming voice disappeared as well. Cirno looked to the ground and indeed, there was a picture of the mysterious person, without her cloak on. Granted, it was a pretty old looking picture. She has a human-like appearance and wore a normal blouse and had a ribbon on her head. She also carries an erhu. Colors couldn't be described as the picture didn't include color.

Cirno: Um…ok…Thanks voice…Uh…Eye'll start hunting for her now…

Cirno took to the skies, towards the Human Village to ask around about this person.

**Flash forward to the Human Village…**

Cirno: Have you seen this woman?

Random villager: No.

That has been the result of 10 minutes of searching.

Cirno: (Patience Cirno, sooner or later you'll have a breakthrough…)

Another 5 minutes of searching…

Cirno: Have you seen this woman?

Another Random Villager: No. Sorry.

The villager left.

Cirno: *Sigh*

???: I finally found you –ze.

Cirno: ! (No…Not now!)

Coming in on her broom was the part witch part thief, Marisa Kirisame.

Marisa: Well little fairy, ready to come back with me to the Isolation Chamber place?

Cirno: NO!!! EYE'M NOT GOING BACK TO THAT HELL HOLE!!! EYE STILL HAVE THINGS TO DO!!!

Marisa: Like what –ze?

Cirno: Eye have to stop this incident…

Marisa: Whoa, slow down there –ze. This person is targeting fairies, ya know? Do ya wanna die?

Cirno: No, eye don't. But eye'm also the only one who knows what she looks like…

Marisa: You know what she looks like? Show me.

Cirno took out the picture and showed it to Marisa.

Marisa: Hmm…This picture seems familiar. I think I know her…

Cirno: Do you?!?!

Marisa: Yeah…I remember now…Me and Reimu met her just before the Scarlet Mist incident. I think her name was…Min Satsuke? Something like that. You sayin' she was the one who started this disease?

Cirno nodded fervently.

Marisa: Hmm…Well, now I know what she looks like.

Cirno: !!!

Cirno was shocked. She just lost her reason for not being locked up.

Cirno: (Oops!!!)

Marisa: And now that I have this…

Cirno: (Oh no…)

Marisa: I think I'll…

Cirno: (OH NO!!!)

Marisa: Give it back –ze.

Cirno: (OH – huh?!?!)

Cirno's face reflected her inner confusion.

Marisa: Well, you seem to have it under control. And you're so determined to fix this too. I suppose it wouldn't harm anyone if you were the one to solve this incident –ze.

Cirno was shocked again. This was the friend of the crazy shrine maiden, the most selfish person in Gensokyo, the person who attempts to solve incidents even without being asked, the mega theif-magician, Marisa Kirisame, and here she is letting Cirno off the hook?

Cirno: (WHAT?!?! T-this is madness…THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!!! Huh…The next thing you know, she'll stop stealing things and everyone in Gensokyo would be revealed to be a lesbian!!! WHAT?!?!)

???: Marisa? Did you find the small fairy yet?

Marisa: Uh oh…Reimu's coming –ze. Hey, get away, I'll keep her from going after you. Hurry!!!

Cirno was still too shocked to move.

Reimu: Marisa!!!

Marisa: I said move damn it!!! Love Sign "Master Spark"!!!

Cirno was finally snapped out of her dazed state.

Cirno: Wait, WHA-?!?!?!

Too late. The little fairy of ice was blasted away, sent flying by the force of the super-mega-laser towards who-knows-where.

Reimu: What happened Marisa? Why'd you use the Haxxer, er, Master Spark?

Marisa: Oh, there was an annoying fly…

**Elsewhere…**

Cirno: WHAAAAAA!!!!!!

*BOOM!!!*

Cirno: Ow…Where am eye now? …Eye've been here before…Back in the flower incident that happens every 60 years…Wait a minute, that means–

*Rumble*

*Rumble*

Cirno: !!!

*Rumble*

*Rumble*

Cirno: EYE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!!!

*BOOM*

An explosion of dust appears in front of Cirno, who was looking like she was witnessing Armageddon. As the dust slowly cleared, an amount of time that felt like an eternity to the small ice fairy, her eyes became wider and wider as the features of the newcomer came into view. When the dust fully disappeared, Cirno's eyes were now almost comically bigger than her head when put together. Standing in front of her is the one thing she has ever feared. It was the Giant Toad of the Youkai Mountain. The toad looked at Cirno straight in the eye, and Cirno slowly backed away.

Cirno: G-get away!!! Eye-eye'm w-warning you!!!

The Giant Toad just slowly crawled towards the ice fairy. Every step, every breath, Cirno flinched with every action.

Cirno: E-eye have no p-problem with you!!! L-leave me alone r-right now and e-eye won't have t-to hurt y-you!!!

The Giant Toad moved closer. Cirno shrank even further due to fear.

Cirno: Ey-ey-eye–

The Toad's mouth opened.

Cirno: AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cirno screamed as loud as she can while the Toad's mouth closed around her…


	6. Subterranean Search

*Rumble*

*Rumble*

With every landing the Giant Toad shook the ground. Though not that big, it was heavy enough to cause at least little rumbles that can be felt around it.

*Rumble*

*Rumble*

The toad was heading towards the Hakurei Shrine. Inside of its mouth, there seemed to be evidence of a struggle. The big toad payed it no mind, however, it did seem to show signs of discomfort. The toad approached the Shrine, then approached something that seemed like a bath house near the Shrine. A sign nearby read "Hakurei Hot Springs. Welcome," then went on to list the prices of various services. The toad stood at the edge of the hot springs, reared back, and spit the little fairy of ice, Cirno, onto the ground.

Cirno: WAH!!!

She hit the ground face first. As she got up, wincing and rubbing her cheek, the giant toad looked her over. An action not missed by Cirno as she lifted her head up after hitting the ground. She also saw that she and the toad were alone. She didn't like this at all…

Cirno: W-what do you want w-with me?

Cirno didn't like how this looked at all. A toad or not, having something that big loom over you is not something anyone would like. Especially if you are a fairy that is as small as a human child. It doesn't help if you were eaten by it before either. And it definitely does NOT help at all if you are also female. However, regardless of the question, the toad did nothing but look at Cirno. She squirmed away very uncomfortably. After many, never ending minutes, the toad opened its mouth yet again. Cirno flinched away and closed her eyes. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes to see the toad's tongue pointing into the hot spring.

Cirno: Y-you're not going to hurt me?

The toad continued to do nothing but point towards the hot spring.

Cirno: Y-you want me to go in?

At this, the toad finally showed other signs of life as it nodded its massive head.

Cirno: E-eye can't! Eye can only take the heat for so long! A-and why do you want to see me in the hot spring in the first place?!

???: OH GODDAMNIT!!!

The skies turned dark and thunder roared when the mysterious booming voice appeared again. It was as if someone had opened up Pandora's Box and only the area around the Hakurei Shrine felt it.

Mysterious Booming Voice: IT WANT'S YOU TO GO TO THE UNDER-F**KING-GROUND!!!!!

A sensible person would be afraid here. Cirno is not sensible and only fears the Giant Toad who brought her here. Though she did have the sense to stutter a bit from the feel of the situation.

Cirno: T-the underground? What's there?

Mysterious Booming Voice: AAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!! GO AND FIGURE THAT FOR YOURSELF DAMN IT!!!!!!

As quickly and suddenly as it appeared the voice disappeared.

Cirno: …Um…

The Giant Toad was gone. It hopped away when that mysterious voice boomed.

Cirno: …Oooookay…Eye guess eye can leave now?

Suddenly, the ground under Cirno gave way and she found herself falling towards the path to the Underground.

Cirno: AHHHH!!!!! Wait, why am eye panicking? Eye could fly…OW!!!!!!!!!

She was suddenly pelted by rocks from the crumbling ground above. One hit her head and she lost consciousness.

An hour later…

Cirno: *groan*…Huh? Where am eye?

Cirno woke up in an underground cavern. The walls were damp, moist, and utterly smelly, like any underground cave exposed to enough moisture.

Fluttering down from above, a picture of someone came down and landed on top of Cirno's head. She picked it up off her head and looked at it. It suddenly jogged her memory.

Cirno: Ah, that's right! This is the person making all the fairies sick!

Then she remembered what the Booming Voice said earlier.

Cirno: Hmmm…Maybe she's down here? Well, the cave entrance isn't there anymore so eye guess eye have nowhere to go but forward.

The fairy of ice did just that. She got off the ground and went down the only way she could see, straight down into the depths of the Underground.

**Elsewhere Underground…**

Mysterious Cloaked Woman: Looks like my plans are going to have to change…

The Mysterious Cloaked Woman was thinking about the recent turn of events and how they changed her air-tight plan. First off, her identity has been revealed. Second, the vaccine above ground seems to be coming along faster than she had anticipated. Third, even if the vaccine were not to be completed, someone has made it to the Underground, someone who is trying to stop her. Fourth, even though that someone is just a fairy, she seems oddly immune to the virus for some reason or another. These events have drastically changed her plans.

Mysterious Cloaked Woman: Crap…I thought I could just stay down here, safe, while my virus infected and killed all the fairies aboveground. Hmmm…I still don't believe the vaccine is coming along so quickly so I still call them on that as a bluff or to keep the public from rioting…Not many people know me so I think I'm okay with my identity revealed…But that fairy…Somehow my disease doesn't affect her…So how could I kill her? …I guess there is always that alternative…I guess it'll have to do…

**Elsewhere Underground (or rather, with Cirno)…**

Cirno: Mmmmmmm…Long, tiring path…

The little fairy was walking down the path. The long, boring, tiring path. Absolutely nothing was going on other than the walking.

Cirno: When's this path going to end?!?! *groan*

Cirno closed her eyes in exasperation. Suddenly, she heard the small fluttering of wings behind her. Many wings. She opened her eyes and saw thousands of youkai that she has never seen before.

Cirno: (So these are the underground youkai eye heard so much about. The ones supposedly stronger than the ones aboveground…)

They all eyed her hungrily, some looking at places girls aren't comfortable with.

Cirno: (…Run.)

She turned around and ran while the underground youkai gave chase to her. She ran down the path and towards the darkness, while shooting bullets behind her. Many missed their mark completely because she wasn't looking, and when she took the time to turn around and aim, she saw how big the hoard of youkai was and was so scared she did nothing but turn and run faster. Suddenly, she sees a turn in the path. She released a whole bunch of danmaku right behind her and turned, hoping that the barrage would stall them long enough for her to make her escape. It worked and none of the youkai followed Cirno. When she saw this, she breathed a sigh of relief and turned around. She saw another youkai in the hallway. She tried to turn and run, but for some reason, couldn't. She tried to scream, but yet again, nothing. She just stared ahead at the other person.

???: Hiya. The name's Koishi.

Cirno: …(Another youkai! Why can't eye run?!?!)

Koishi: I've been watching you ever since you came down here. No one ever comes down here so I thought, why don't I welcome them? So, welcome stranger and whatcha doin'?

Cirno: Eye'm here to find someone who is causing trouble aboveground. (What the?! Eye didn't want to tell her that!! What's happening?!?!)

Koishi: Hmm? Really? Can I see a picture of this person?

Cirno held out the picture.

Cirno: Here. (WHAT THE F*** IS GOING ON?!?!?!)

Koishi: Hmmm…Ah, I seen this person. She should be over there. Just follow this path and you should see her eventually.

Cirno: Thanks. (Huh? She's helping me? …She's kinda nice. And now eye know where to go too. The underground youkai ain't so bad.) You're a pretty nice person Koishi. Are other underground youkai like you?

Koishi: Well, some of us I guess. Others though, like those guys chasing you before, not so much.

Cirno: Why do you guys live underground?

Koishi: Ah…

Cirno: Oh,eye- eye'm sorry if that was a personal question. Eye didn't mean–

Koishi: It okay Ms. Fairy. Before, we live underground because we weren't allowed top side. People saw our power and decided to banish us underground. Now though, were fine with it. It's not so bad either.

Cirno: …

Koishi: …Well, aren't you looking for someone who was causing trouble? You better get going then before more bad stuff happens, huh?

Cirno: Looked this strange person right in the eye. She was smiling, but something was off. She couldn't put her finger on it and just nodded slowly, and went down the path revealed to her to lead to this Min Satsuke, looking back only to see the face of this person one more time. She had cried silent tears while she thought Cirno wasn't looking.


	7. Undefined Fantastic Ending

Cirno walked down a path through the underground with a look of determination set on her face. She was deep in thought.

Cirno: (That Koishi person was really nice. She pointed me down the path towards that Min Whatever's location. It seems a lot of people eye've met on this adventure are nice. First that Marisa person, than the Giant Toad who ate me, now that Koishi fellow. And on the way, so much has happened. There were so many times eye cried on this adventure. And then there was the time when Daiyousei snapped me out of a depression. Heh. Eye never thought that that would happen…But eye wonder how she is now? She was caught by that crazy miko and sent back to the Isolation place at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but was she hurt? Danmaku battles don't hurt much, but with that crazy, cheating miko, you can never tell…Eye really hope she's okay.

Suddenly, a bright light snapped Cirno from her thoughts. It was so bright compared to the darkness of the tunnels of the underground, she had to blink a few times to stop the sting, then blink more to stop seeing double. As her vision cleared, she saw she was in a room filled with all kinds of equipment, none of which Cirno understood. There were machines that stood the height of the wall, all blinking strange colors and making strange sounds. Some of which had a strange square set in them, blocked from the air around it by some strange glass. Lights that didn't come from candles glowed from the ceiling, all covered by strange glass as well. The floor changed from loose and pebbly, to solid and shiny. It was like stepping into a whole different world.

Cirno: (W-what the? What's with the incredibly strange change of scenery?)

???: Impressed?

Cirno looked about wildly looking for the source of the voice. She snapped her attention to a monitor just a few feet away, where a hooded face with thin lips were on the monitor.

Cirno: You…Are you Min Something-or-Other?

???: …I hate fairies…

Cirno made a note that the voice was coming from a strange box near the screen.

Cirno: Don't try to fool me!!! Your old friend Marisa told me who you are, Min!!!

???: You think I don't know? And the name's Rin. Rin Satsuki!

Another monitor turned on a few feet away. It showed the conversation Cirno had recently with Marisa.

Cirno: (Could this person turn back time? How is she showing me something that happened over a few hours ago?!?!) How are you doing this?

Rin: That is of no importance. Rather, can you find me?

She pulled back her face to reveal a young, but pail face. However, even though many years separated them, this face looked too much like the one in the picture for them to be two different people.

Cirno: Of course eye can find you. Eye'll find you and stop this incident from going even further out of hand!

Rin: Let me finish. Can you find me, before I spread my disease to these fairies here?

Another monitor flashed to life. Cirno looked to the screen.

Cirno: *Gasp*

On the screen was the inside of the Isolation Chamber. Daiyousei was in the middle of the frame.

Rin: Do you know why I chose the Underground to develop and spread my virus? The Underground connects to every place in the world! All you need to do is dig through the dirt.

Cirno: B-but, viruses can't spread through the ground! Nothing can!

Rin: Maybe not, but a drill can.

Another monitor, this one showing many small cylinders all with cone shaped things on top, turned on.

Rin: I've set those devices to drill through the ground towards the surface, where they will open and spread the newest strain of my virus. This one spreads and kills faster than the last.

Cirno: Y-you monster! You're insane! Don't you know if you kill all the fairies, nature will die and then everything else?!?!

Rin: A necessary sacrifice to kill all you annoying little pieces of shot fodder. Even if the world were to end, you all deserve to die!

Cirno: You ARE insane! You're so obsessed with killing fairies, you would let the world end?!?!

Rin: I just said that, didn't I stupid fairy? HA HA HA HA!!! But I'll cut you a deal. If you can find me before the timer goes off and dooms all of your kind, I'll stop the timer and you will all be safe. Fail, and everything dies and I'll set off an explosion using that nuclear energy I gathered from that reactor in the mountain in this lab, killing every fairy that still lives!!!

Cirno: Wouldn't you die too?!?!

Rin: What would be the point of living in a world about to die?! Now run along little fairy! If you want to stop this you better get going!!!

Every monitor suddenly became a timer counting down from 5 minutes. Cirno wasted no time. She sped off, right into this maze of technology.

Cirno: (What the hell is with this woman? She seriously IS crazy!!! What the hell's her problem? Killing fairies without provocation, what did we ever do to her?!)

Cirno rounded a corner to find two mechanical dogs barreling straight towards her. They sped straight for the little ice fairy and bit down, missing her by mere centimeters.

Cirno: SHIT!!!

The woman's voice again spoke through one of the dogs.

Rin: Allow me to introduce my security system. They attack anything that they aren't programmed to ignore. Guess what they are programmed to do about fairies?

She started laughing as Cirno shot and dodged the two mechanical dogs. She managed to land a direct hit in the strife. The dog exploded into three separate pieces.

Cirno: YES!!! Looks like your security system isn't as great as–

She was cut short as the three pieces of the scattered dog suddenly grew heads. They then borrowed some parts from the dog that wasn't destroyed and reformed back into dogs.

Cirno: …RUN!!!

She turned around quickly and flew as fast as her wings could take her as the dogs continued to chase her down, flying at just the right altitude to assure she couldn't fake them out and turn around.

Rin: HA HA HA HA HA!!! RUN LITTLE FAIRY RUN!!! HA HA HA HA HA!!!

Cirno flew through the maze of technology, barely making turns due to her speed. The dogs fared much better as they ran down the fairy of ice. Eventually, they ran her into a dead end.

Cirno: Not good…No way out…

The dogs stood still 10 meters away as Rin spoke.

Rin: Looks like it's game over little fairy. I'm not giving you any continues like in the Forest. I thought it would have been fun if I gave a fighting chance to your species, but I guess I was wrong.

Cirno: Shut up…Eye'm not done yet!!!

Rin: But after this? ATTACK!!!

The dogs started bounding towards the fairy again. She closed her eyes and braced herself before she was ripped limb from limb by the mechanical beasts. They quickly closed the distance. 10 meters. 8 meters. 5 meters. 2 meters. But then, she suddenly had an idea. She opened her eyes and held up a spell card and shouted in a loud voice.

Cirno: Freeze Sign "Perfect Freeze"!!!

The dogs froze in mid air, less than one meter away, then fell to the ground with a thud. They didn't move or reform again. Cirno closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. Then she looked at the nearest monitor. It read 45 seconds.

Cirno: CRAP!!!

She sped off again, moving faster than even when the dogs were chasing her.

Cirno: Where the hell is she?!?! Did eye pass her hiding place running from the dogs?

35 seconds.

She pounded her wings, beating them faster and faster as her heart raced as she flew. Then she saw a hallway that led to a glass door with the words "Observation Deck 9" over the door. A cloaked woman had her hood up and was looking at Cirno. She sped down the hallway.

10 seconds.

She covered a fourth of the distance.

5 seconds.

Half the distance.

1 second.

Cirno burst through the door into the room, glass and blood flying everywhere. She landed hard on the floor, holding her hands out in front of her to pin down Rin. She felt no resistance and opened her eyes. It was a dummy. Suddenly, the lights turned red and started blinking. Laughter echoed around her from the machines as all the monitors changed to the drills again. Each one started spinning and the containers underneath lifted upwards towards the ceiling, where she saw that there were multiple tubes that most likely went all around Gensokyo.

Cirno: NO!!!

Cirno looked wildly around to try to desperately catch a glimpse of Rin, hoping she was not too late. She saw a glass panel that made up the wall of the room. Below the panel was the room where the disease carrying cylinders were being deployed. She took a deep breath, and jumped through the window. Rin, who was watching from the observation deck opposite Cirno's, saw this and followed her as well down into the deployment room. Cirno flew through the room to the top of each platform and knocked down the cylinders that they carried. Rin didn't let her get away with it for too long. She charged straight for the fairy. Cirno didn't see her until the last second and she was tackled fiercely to the ground, pinned underneath the bigger girl.

Rin: You are NOT going to stop this!!! I've waited too long for my revenge!!!

Cirno continued to struggle underneath the larger girl, watching in horror as the cylinders moved further and further away from them. She threw her hands out to her side to form clubs made of ice and swung for the woman on top of her. Rin saw this and brought her hands up quickly to block. Cirno used this to her advantage and pushed one more time, forcing the larger girl off of her. She quickly got to her feet and flew up again to knock as many cylinders down as possible. Rin quickly got up as well and threw one of the cylinders Cirno knocked down previously at her. The cylinder flew towards the fairy of ice. Cirno sensed something coming towards her and turned around. She saw the cylinder coming for her face and attempted to dodge. It grazed her within an inch of the tip of the drill from her face. Rin threw more, this time adding danmaku to the mix, forcing Cirno to dodge rather than stop the platforms and what is on top of them.

Rin: YOU CAN'T BEAT ME!!! I WON'T BE DEFEATED BY SOME PUNY FAIRY AGAIN!!! IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN!!! I WON'T BE FORGOTTEN AGAIN!!!

**Flashback to Rin's past…**

Rin was walking down a path that led to her house near the shrine. She was just at the Forest of Magic, picking herbs to use in new herbal medicines and remedies. She has seen the shrine maiden occasionally as she walked by, and admittedly, they were very good friends. The first time Rin saw her was when she was practicing her flying on her own while her turtle, Genji, instructed her from afar.

**Flashback…**

Reimu: Hey, I think I got it!

Indeed she did as she flew higher and higher. However something went wrong and she suddenly found herself speeding towards the ground.

Reimu: AHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Reimu closed her eyes and braced for impact, but nothing happened. She slowly opened her eyes to see that Genji caught her.

Genji: You need to be more careful Reimu. You're just starting to get the hang of it. Don't go so high.

Reimu: I know I had it that time. Genji, did you see any reason I fell?

Rin decided to make her presence known.

Rin: Actually, I saw that you tried to stay in one place for two long. We fly in Gensokyo, not levitate in place.

The two inhabitants of the shrine looked to Rin, surprised to see someone there.

Reimu: Oh! A person! Are you here to donate to the shrine?

A sweatdrop appeared on Genji's and Rin's heads.

**Flash forward…**

Rin: I'm sure you're familiar with the Forest of Magic, Reimu?

Reimu: Yeah. I come here once in a while for stuff.

Rin: Well, this place a prime location for flying battle training. Fairies like to come out and annoy people here by getting them lost, along with other annoying habits. You can fly around and beat some up with danmaku while flying. There are tons of them so you are never without a target.

Reimu: Hey, there's one now! *shoots a bullet*

Marisa: *hit by bullet* OW!!! WHO SHOT THAT?!?!

Reimu: Oh. It's just Marisa…

**Back to present in flashback…**

Rin was still walking in front of the shrine, wallowing in her memories when Reimu called out to her.

Reimu: RIN!!!

Rin: Hm?

Reimu: Come see!!! It's weird!!!

Reimu led the kirin into the sky and showed her the landscape. It was covered by a strange red mist.

Rin: Red mist? That is strange. Another incident?

Reimu: That's what I think. I'm going to go resolve it, okay?

Rin: Go ahead. I'll go see if Marisa wants to join in too.

Reimu: Don't. She'll try to solve the incident herself. Plus, I guarantee that she will come along in some random way anyway, even if no one tells her of the incident.

Rin: Well, okay then, but I'm coming along too. I just need to get these herbs home first.

Reimu: You don't need to but if you want too…

**Flash forward…**

Rin was flying through the sky, looking for the source of the red mist. What she didn't expect to find was a fairy blocking her way.

Rin: Outta the way fairy, unless you want to get blasted.

The fairy just looked at her surprised before shooting a random bullet. The point blank shot hit Rin right on her hit box.

Rin: OW!!!

She disappeared. The fairy breathed a sigh of relief.

Rin: HOW DARE YOU!!!

She was right there again, screaming her head off at the fairy, who was so shocked she shot another bullet, again connecting with Rin's hit box.

Rin: OW!!!

After disappearing and reappearing again, she just took the fairy out without saying anything. She just kept on flying until a new face got in her way. One she couldn't see due to it suddenly becoming darker for some reason.

Rin: Why's it so dark? OW!!!

As her hit box collided with another person, she was knocked unconscious. The newcomer stopped moving, wondering what hit her, then continue moving forward, her sphere of darkness following her wherever she went, revealing a noticeably paler Rin in it's wake.

**End flashback…**

Rin: IT'LL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN!!!

She then charged the little ice fairy while shooting like a mad person. Cirno dodged each shot and the charge as well. Rin was smiling. She immediately took a cylinder from a platform and flew back around to stab Cirno. Blood flew and Cirno gasped as the drill penetrated her stomach, a look of victory on Rin's face. Cirno fell to the ground with a large thud, groaning.

Rin: Heh. Looks like I win little fairy.

She started walking away, to prepare the lab for a self-destruct. She never noticed the small ice fairy take out a spell card.

Cirno: I-I-Ice Sign…"ICICLE FALL"!!!

Rin: W-what?!?!

Rin turned around to see many icicles heading straight for her. She backed away from the fairy, shooting at her on the ground. It didn't break the spell as she was hit full force by the shards, and knocked unconscious. As Cirno slipped to a state of unconsciousness as well, she heard a door open.

**Hours later…**

Cirno: And so, that is how eye stopped a crazy lady from killing all the fairies, saved nature and the world, and solved an incident all at once.

A pissed off looking Reimu and a grinning Marisa looked straight into the eyes of the fairy of ice.

Reimu: I don't believe it.

Marisa: It could happen.

Reimu: A fairy couldn't do anything.

Cirno: That's the kind of attitude that started this whole incident.

Reimu: Regardless, I still don't believe YOU of all people stopped this incident. There has to be someone else. You never explained who stopped the platforms from getting the drills to the surface.

Cirno: Yeah eye did! Eye said someone came into the control room thing and turned them off!

Reimu: Exactly. So you didn't stop the incident.

Cirno: But eye still did the most!

Marisa: Well, no matter what happened in there, over here we got the vaccine to every fairy in the Isolation Chamber. So it's all good.

Cirno: Hmm…fine don't believe me. Eye don't need you guys to tell me eye'm strong. Eye'm just glad that eye know eye am. So, eye don't have to stick around here to explain anything else so eye'm off.

She tried to get up from the bed she was laying down on, but couldn't do it due to pain shooting through her due to her injuries.

Eirin: Not so fast miss fairy. You still need to heal. Even if you don't think it, you had some pretty major damage done to your system in there. You'll need to stay here for at least a day if you want to fully recover.

Cirno: But, eye wanna see my friends…

???: Why don't we just come by and see you?

The members of Team 9 came in through the door. The miko, witch, and nurse took this as their cue to leave.

Wriggle: We heard what happened Cirno.

Mystia: Yeah Cirno! Good job!

Rumia: If we can keep solving incidents like this, we can easily prove to everyone that anyone is strong!

Mystia: But we did nothing. It was all Cirno!

Wriggle: And Daiyousei. She helped as well. Speaking of which, where is she?

Cirno: Ah! It's you guys. Daiyousei came by earlier, actually. She got me these.

She held up some flowers and a card that read "recover soon!" on it.

Rumia: Awwww…So pretty! But I never pegged Daiyousei as one…U fu fu fu…

Wriggle: Don't start that up again!!!

The two started arguing yet again. Cirno looked on to the scene in confusion. Mystia sighed and looked to Cirno.

Mystia: Ignore it.

Cirno: *nods head* Heh.

Mystia: Hey guys, Cirno's recovering and stuff so we should probably leave now.

The other two stopped their bickering and looked to Mystia, then to Cirno. They nodded their heads.

Mystia: See ya later Cirno!

Wriggle: Yeah, see ya Cirno!

Rumia: Come see us as soon as you feel better Cirno!

The three left the room. Cirno then started staring at the ceiling. She looked out the window to the sunset, waited a minute, then to the floor, before whispering something.

Cirno: Hey, Daiyousei! It's clear to come out now.

The head of the giant fairy poked out from underneath the bed and nodded quickly. Then, she moved out from under the bed.

Cirno: Never thought they would leave us alone. Picking up our conversation from earlier, are you okay?

Daiyousei: Yeah. I'm okay.

Cirno: That was totally dangerous, reckless, and stupid of you to come down to the Underground to turn off the platforms you know.

Daiyousei: …I know.

The two fairies looked at each other in the eye. Then, slowly, they smiled. With grins splitting their faces practically in half, the two reached for the other, and they hugged.

* * *

And there you have it people. Yep, that's it. That's the end. There is no more. Unless YOU demand it! I actually am thinking of putting in a new chapter, one of omakes, but I need your help! Really, you can just send it to me in a review or something, but you will get an honorable mention if you also tell me something I did wrong. AKA, Constructive criticism scores you an honorable mention, not that that's worth much though in all reality. So, yeah. That's it. I now got nothing. Why am I still here? Oh yeah. PRAISE THE STRONGEST AND THE SMARTEST ON THIS (9)-TASTIC DAY EVERYBODY!!!!!


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